Read The Heartland An American History Kristin L Hoganson 9781594203572 Books

Product details Hardcover 432 pages Publisher Penguin Press (April 23, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1594203571

The Heartland An American History Kristin L Hoganson 9781594203572 Books Reviews

• The Heartland is a brief snapshot of middle America, focusing primarily on Illinois and the community of Champaign, since the author works at the local university. She begins by addressing all the nicknames for the Midwest, including the flyover states, a label I personally detest because it's denigrating. The Midwest has much to offer and its citizens' values are often scoffed at, but Midwesterners are hardy, stable, reliable, and loyal. Hoganson explores the Kickapoo history and the rich agrarian history of the region. Overall, it's a good overview to promote the value of the region. I'm not quite sure why the author felt the need to write it, unless she believed it was necessary to substantiate that the Midwest Is valuable. I am a proud native Midwestern who lives not too far from the primary region focused on in the book and I encourage all readers to explore the vast history and richness of the "middle west." Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy.
• I read a positive review of this book and looked forward to reading it. I was disappointed.
  
  The author says that she wants to show that the “heartland” was not and is not isolated. She succeeds in doing that, but then manages to imply that the people are still insular. Lists all the great accomplishments of the people of the heartland yet manages to disparage them in detail.
  
  I suppose it this comes from her mind-set. She seems to look at the world through lenses of imperialism and oppression. She sees simple things like telephone poles as obstacles, bringing up the gratuitous irrelevance that one of them (there must have been billions in total) may have been used for a lynching. She manages to see racism in the breeding of pigs (Midwesterners preferred pigs with lighter colors and finer hair) and criticizes Midwestern researchers for concentrating their studies in places like Germany or Britain, which were at the time the leaders in that science. She laments that Midwesterners had much tighter ties with Canada than with Mexico, finds fault that American farming manuals were in English, and complains that an America diplomat posted to Breslau, then in Germany, whose job it was to do consular work and export promotion in a provincial German city, did an excellent job of promoting American agricultural products and learning best practices from German farms, but failed to criticize German colonial practices in Southwest Africa.
  
  The Midwest helps feed the world. The great soil and favorable climate were ONE key, but these productive farm lands were as much a creation of human imagination, intelligence and ingenuity as a gift from nature. The author tells the story of this, but manages to put a negative spin, calling the search for improved strains of crops and genetic materials “bioprospecting.”
  
  She gives short shrift to land grant colleges, talking little about them in general and then saying that they were largely derivative of European models. I take exception to this, as I believe land grant colleges, with the mission to promote practical arts and their inclusive nature, were/are one of the keys to American prosperity and openness.
  
  Maybe it is because I was born in Wisconsin and I am the graduate of two land grant universities – Wisconsin and Minnesota. Maybe it is because I was a career diplomat and saw the reach and good work of American universities, especially in Brazil, where I worked for six years. Maybe it is because as the grandson of immigrants, I am deeply grateful to the “heartland” that gave me and my family so much. Maybe it is because I work in forestry and learned so much from the outreach and extension efforts pioneered by guys like then University of Wisconsin professor Aldo Leopold. Maybe that is why I agree that the myth of heartland isolationism should be debunked. But I also think that the reality of heartland accomplishment should be better explained. The author took one of the most positive stories in human history and managed to make it seem tawdry. I do not think it was her intent, but it was her achievement.
• Well written and informative, this is more a history of the area around Champaign Illinois than the entire "heartland." That said, most of this was unfamiliar to me. I was especially saddened by the story of the Kickapoo. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. Clear writing and deep research made this a good read which will linger in my mind.